Alfred Andrea received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vermont, where he taught from 1967 through 2001. His initial training concentrated on medieval European history, with an emphasis on Byzantine-Western relations and the Crusades. He has since published four books on the Crusades, as well as numerous articles on a variety of historical issues. For the past thirty years, his teaching, research, and writing have focused increasingly on world history before 1600, with a particular interest in cross-cultural contacts across the Silk Road. In 2002 he was Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Louisville, and he served as president of the World History Association (WHA) in 2010-2012. In 2014, the WHA recognized him as a Pioneer of World History.